Collapsible chair



May 13, 1969 J. H. BRUNSKOLE COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR Sheet 012 Filed Jan. 23,1968 INV/iN'IUA. JOSEF H. BRUNSKOLE' 13y a ATTORNEYS May 13, 1969 J. H.BRUNSKOLE COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR Sheet 4 of2 Filed Jan. 23, 1968 JOSEF H. RuiisKoLE BY y ATTORNEYS nited States Patent M 3,443,835 COLLAPSIBLE CHAIRJosef H. Brunskole, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada, assignor to CanadianSeating Company Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed Jan. 23, 1968,Ser. No. 699,882 Int. Cl. A47c 4/04 US. Cl. 297-35 7 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The frame structure of a collapsible or folding seatincludes a pair of side members which are pivotally connected to a pairof floor-mounted anchoring members, and locking means operable by thearm-rests of the seat are engageable with the anchoring members forlocking or securing the seat in its erect position.

Background of the invention This invention relates to collapsible orfolding seats, more particularly for use in auditoria.

Collapsible or folding seats of the type to which the invention relatesare usually mounted on the steps or risers of an auditorium floor, andsuch an arrangement imposes restrictive requirements as to the design ofseats for any given auditorium according to the heights of the risers.The restriction is aggravated further by the necessity for accommodatingthe folding mechanism of the seat.

It is an object of the present invention to provide collapsible orfolding seat which may be mounted directly on the floor of an auditoriumirrespective of the riser height.

Another object of the invention is to provide a seat having aparticularly simple and convenient folding or collapsing mechanism.

Summary of the inventi n According to the present invention, acollapsible or folding seat is provided with a frame structurecomprising a base providing a pair of upstanding, spaced apart anchoringmembers, each anchoring member having an openended slot therein, a pairof side members pivotally connected to the anchoring members for pivotalmovement about a common horizontal axis between erect and collapsedpositions, each side member having a slot therein which, when the sidemember is in the erect position, registers with the slot of a respectiveanchoring member, a pair of arm-rests pivotally connected to the side111C111:- bers, a rigid lin-k pivotally connected to each arm-rest andextending downwardly therefrom, and a locking pin carried by each rigidlink, the locking pins being movable along the slots in the side membersby movement of the arm rests and being adapted to engage in therespective open-ended slots of the anchoring members to lock the sidemembers in the erect position.

Brief descriptiOn 0f the drawings In order that the invention may bereadily understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described by wayof example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a general perspective view of a collapsible folding seataccording to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows the seat in its collapsed position;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the seat in its erect position,and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the seat, the figure illustratingthe movements of the seat components during folding of the seat.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, thecollapsible seat comprises a frame structure 1, a back rest 2, and aseat portion 3. The frame structure comprises a base providing a pair ofupstanding, spaced apart anchoring members 4, each anchoring memberbeing directly secured to the floor 5 of an auditorium, for example, andbeing secured to the front face of a step or riser 6 of the floor bymeans of brackets 7. Each anchoring member consists of a U- shaped plateproviding a pair of parallel side portions 8, 8', each of which isformed with a vertical open-ended slot 9. A pair of side members 10 ofthe frame structure 1 are pivotally connected to the anchoring members 4by pivot pins 11, the lower portion of each side member 10 being formedwith an elongated slot 12 which, when the side member is in the erectposition, registers with the open-ended slot 9 of the respectiveanchoring member 4. The frame structure 1 is thus capable of being movedto the collapsed or folded position shown in FIG- URE 2, and movement ofthe frame structure from the erect position in a direction away from thecollapsed position is prevented by stops or cross pins 13, which aremounted in the anchoring members and are adapted to engage the frontedges of the lower portions of the side members.

The seat is provided with a pair of arm-rests 14 which are pivotallyconnected to the upper ends of the side members 10 by pivots 15, and apair of rigid links 16 pivotally connected to the arm-rests 1-4 at 17extend downwardly from the arm-rests, the lower end of each rigid linkcarrying a locking pin 18. The locking pins are movable along the slots12 in the side members by movement of the arm-rests 14, and are adaptedto engage in the open-ended slots 9 of the anchoring members for lookingthe side members in the erect position as shown in FIGURE 1.

The back rest 2 extends between the side members 10 and is connectedthereto by brackets 19.

The seat portion 3 comprises a cushion mounted on a seat frame 20, theseat frame being pivotally connected to the side members 10 by pivots 21fitted on forwardly extending projections 22 of the side members. Theseat portion is thus movable from the normal seating position shown inFIGURE 1 to a tilted position shown in chaindotted lines in FIGURE 1.The seating position is defined by stop members 23 formed on the framestructure, which stop members are adapted to engage the seat frame whenin the seating position. The seat portion is preferably Weighted so thatit is biased to move to its tilted position when not occupied.

In order to fold the seat to its collapsed position from the erectposition shown in FIGURE 1, the arm-rests 14 are lifted about the pivot15, thus raising the links 16 and withdrawing the locking pins 18 fromthe open-ended slots 9 of the anchoring members. When the locking pins18 are disengaged from the slots 9, the side members may simply berotated about the pivot pins 11 to bring the seat in the position shownin FIGURE 2. Similarly, in order to bring the seat into the erectposition for use, the back rest is raised so that the frame structure isrotated about the pivots 11, the arm-rests being raised so that thelocking pins 18 are clear of slots 9. The arm-rests are then ment abouta common horizontal axis between erect and collapsed positions, eachside member having a slot therein which, when the side member is in theerect position, registers with the slot of a respective anchoringmember, a pair of arm rests pivotally connected to the side members, arigid link pivotally connected to each arm rest and extending downwardlytherefrom, and a locking pin carried by each rigid link which lockingpins are movable along the slots in the slide members by movement of thearm rests and are adapted to engage in the open-ended slots of theanchoring members to lock the side members in the erect position.

2. A collapsible seat according to claim 1, having a backrest extendingbetween the side members and a seat portion extending between the sidemembers.

3. A collapsible seat according to claim 2, wherein the seat portion ispivotally mounted between the side members for movement between aseating position and a tilted position.

4. A collapsible seat according to claim 3, wherein the seat portion isbiased towards its tilted position.

5. A collapsible seat according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the seatportion comprises a seat frame and a cushion mounted thereon, saidseating position being defined by stop members on the side members whichare adapted to engage the seat frame.

6. A collapsible seat according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which theanchoring members include stop means adapted to engage the side membersto prevent movement of the side members from the erect position in adirection away from the collapsed position.

7. A collapsible seat comprising a base providing a. pair of upstanding,spaced apart anchoring members, each anchoring member having anopen-ended slot therein, a pair of side members pivotally connected tothe anchoring members for pivotal movement about a common horizontalaxis between erect and collapsed positions, each side member having aslot therein which, when the side member is in the erect position,registers with the slot of a respective anchoring member, a pair ofarmrests pivotally connected to the side members, a rigid link pivotallyconnected to each arm-rest and extending downwardly therefrom, and alocking pin carried by each rigid link, which locking pins are movablealong the slots in the side members by movement of the arm-rests and areadapted to engage in the open-ended slots of the anchoring members tolock the side members in the erect position, a back rest extendingbetween the side members, a seat portion pivotally mounted between theside members for movement between a seating position and a tiltedposition, the stop means defining said seating position of the seatportion, and stop means carried by the anchoring members and adapted toengage the side members to define said erect position of the sidemembers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,316,014 4/1967 Barecki297----35 3,352,069 11/ 1967 Curra 529 FOREIGN PATENTS 919,933 2/ 1963Great Britain.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

